ERA and Women's History Panel- MCNOW

Join MCNOW for a panel discussion and Q&A on women's history and the ERA.

Panelists:

Delegate Jheanelle Wilkins, District 20Jheanelle is a progressive, community-driven legislative advocate dedicated to policy change that makes a difference in people’s lives. She has organized and fought for greater opportunity for all residents in our community, including raising the minimum wage, earned sick leave for workers, protecting our environment, and improving our schools. She believes we are strongest when all voices are heard and all communities are represented in the democratic process.

Bettina Hager, DC Director of the ERA Coalition and Fund for Women’s Equality, and co-chair of the Equal Rights Amendment Task Force of the National Council of Women's OrganizationsBettina has conducted focused lobby training workshops on the issue of Constitutional equality and oversaw the creation of a widely used ERA advocacy packet with information on how to contact elected officials, reach out to media and encourage constituency outreach. Bettina organized and moderated a Senate briefing on the three-state ratification strategy legislation sponsored by Sen. Cardin in April 2014. She participated in a House briefing on the ERA, March 2013, and was a speaker on grassroots organizing for the ERA at the ERA conference, Roger Williams University, November 2013. Bettina previously worked as Programs Director and Interim Executive Director at the National Women’s Political Caucus (NWPC), advocating for the necessity of women’s political participation at all levels of government.

Eileen Davis, Co-Founder, Women-Matter.org

Eileen co-founded Women-Matter.org, a single issue organization dedicated to the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and the International Women's Treaty (CEDAW). Her advocacy for the ERA was born from the understanding that constitutional equality for all genders is a fundamental right, a fundamental need to support heads of families in all communities, and to give foundational constitutional support to all the intermediate congressional laws now weakly enforced because the ERA is not ratified.

Equality in pay, job opportunities, political structure, social security and education will remain an elusive dream without a guarantee of equality in the U.S. Constitution. The progress we have made — and must continue to make — towards women’s equality can be lost at any time because those advances depend on legislation that can be (and has been) weakened or repealed by Congress. Although we did not succeed in ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment, winning a constitutional guarantee of equality for women remains one of the National Organization for Women and Montgomery County NOW's top priorities.

Constitutional equality is one of NOW's and MCNOW's six core issues. Our other core issues are: reproductive rights and justice, racial justice, LGBTQIA+ rights, economic justice, and ending violence against women. We will be holding a panel discussion and Q&A on each of these core issues.